Putin’s Soul

I’ve got a two euro coin burning a hole in my pocket. It’s way late into the night and everything is closed, but the coin is starting to burn my skin so I head out looking for a vending machine so I can spend it. The only vending machine I can find is the one at Hermannplatz that sells souls, and the only souls you can get for two euros are of heads of state.

Obama, Netanyahu, and Harper’s souls are all gone, and the only one left is Putin’s. My pants are starting to burn up, and I don’t want to have to walk home half-naked since it’s a bit chilly out, so I put the coin in the machine, and punch in my choice. Putin plops out and seems a bit dishevelled, and asks me what he was doing in there. I tell him that I don’t know. After you sell your soul to the devil he can pretty much do whatever he wants with it, and I guess the economic crisis has hit the devil hard too, you know, hence the vending machines.

When we get to my house I give him my pink flowered housecoat, and ask if he wants to watch a movie, which he does so we watch Ivan’s Childhood together and he cries all the way through it.

I take Putin’s soul by the hand and seat him in my little red wagon, and I start to pull him back to my house. I hadn’t really thought this through, and I’m not really sure what to do with Putin’s soul, but I can’t really leave him out to freeze.

When we get to my house I give him my pink flowered housecoat, and ask if he wants to watch a movie, which he does so we watch Ivan’s Childhood together and he cries all the way through it.

After when I’m tucking him into bed in the spare room, I ask him what I should do with him. He says that he wants to be re-united with his body, so they can grow old together.

First thing in the morning we go to the post office together and I buy an envelope big enough to fit a folded-up soul of Putin inside. I write a note to Putin that says, “Bought back your soul for you. :)” Then I say good-bye to Putin’s soul, and wish him well. I hope he makes it home alright.

Ambika Thompson is a parent, musician, and writer living in Berlin. She has contributed short stories to NPR Berlin, Fanzine, and Literally Stories, and has had her stories shortlisted for the Reader Short Story 2012, and the Fresher Writer Prize 2015 contests. She is also one half of the cello riot grrl band Razor Cunts.

“The person on the floor was unmistakeably dead. It looked like a woman; she couldn’t be sure yet…” By Hawa Jande Golakai.

“It’s important to bring this devastatingly misogynist and sexist culture into the drawing rooms of society, supplanting the ever permanent discussions of politics and religious discourse, two themes sewn into the lifeblood of Pakistan. How we treat women and how they are perceived in society are sadly closely intertwined with how they see themselves. We must teach young girls the power of ambition, something they have in droves as children – ask any five-year-old girl what she wants to be and I doubt you’ll get “housewife” as an answer. These are protocols we imprint on them as they grow older, reminding them to never dip a toe out “too far”. ” ~ Maryam Piracha, ‘Don't Cry Like A Girl, Be A (Wo)man’

“It is difficult, when you are not part of a community, to see what happens within it. It may also be extremely difficult to come out of a community and reveal truths about how you’ve been mistreated due to your sexual identity. The struggle for social acceptance is a long, hard road, but it is not something that can be accomplished in isolation by the victimized. Rather, the instigators need to pause and rethink why they pour such hate on their fellow human beings. We might think that something is just a phase, and perhaps for a minority it is. For the rest, it is a gift we are cursing them for.” ~ Aaron Grierson, ‘Not Just A Phase’

“When seemingly decent people make jokes linking masculinity, dominance and superiority to the vile act of rape, and express pride over it, they don’t realize that the language they are using not only trivializes the trauma, horror and pain of rape victims and survivors, but also makes them culpable in promoting rape culture. In fact, it is often through the uninformed use of such words that language becomes a tool in perpetuating sexism and violence against women in society.” ~ Sana Fatima Hussain, ‘Talking Gender’

Over the last few months, the magazine has ceased core publishing operations while we reevaluate our direction and vision. We will be back soon–the work TMS does is too important for us to drift silently into the night–but it will take some time.

But while we’re taking a break to restrategize, bookmark this page… we hope to see you on the other side!